Traffic Jams

Good morning,

Merry Christmas Eve! I hope your holidays are going well and all the hustle and bustle translates into peace and joy. This week’s flurry of activity has reminded me about an important ingredient to a peaceful and joyful life.

Patience.

Admittedly, I am one of those people always in a hurry, trying to pack 25 hours into the day. But over the years I’ve learned that in order to thrive or even just survive, all the rushing around needs to be deliberately sprinkled with patience. Deliberately, as in consciously choosing to slow down or even back away when necessary to let the situation breathe. Frequently, the recipe for patience includes a dash of flexibility and a pinch of creativity.

You know…like when the store you’re trying to reach is hemmed in for blocks by cars all trying to turn left into the same place and you’re stuck in the middle of an intersection five blocks away when the light turns red and if only people would stop cutting you off you know you could get where you’re going or at least get out of the intersection before cross traffic blows you away…and then it suddenly occurs to you that buying the thing at the store is not what the holidays are all about, so you wave a friendlier gesture than previously contemplated to the guy who cut you off and pull away into the emptier right lane to find a different thing at a different store at a different time, and instead of white-knuckle driving you slow down, call a friend and turn traffic jam time into quality time talking with someone you love.

We’ve probably all heard Benjamin Franklin’s warning that haste makes waste. Often rushing actually makes things take longer (think of the traffic jams people cause by cutting each other off!) and impatience always makes them feel longer.

This morning let’s take a deep breath – and have a sunny day!

Clarity

P.S. “Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.” Barbara Johnson

P.P.S. Thank you for sharing Sunny Notes with others. New readers can Visit This Link to add an email address to receive Sunny Notes directly from me by email each Friday.

Clarity Patton Newhouse
Sunny Media Group, Inc.
313-670-7505
MetroMichigan.com